Tag: splurge

It’s really so easy to fall for makeup advertising campaigns. They come up with all kinds of reasons why their makeup brands are better than the rest. Whilst some claims may be true, there are some products that seem to have the same ingredients and work the same way from brand to brand.

Most of the time, the difference is the price tag.

Here, we will be discussing products that every makeup artist or makeup lover should possess but doesn’t necessarily have to lose an arm and a leg to acquire.

Mascara: with a shelf life of just 6 months (unless otherwise stated by the manufacturer), why would one want to spend a fortune buying a mascara? Besides, with a good wand, one can achieve a wonderful single or double coat before layering with false lashes.

Blush: just a hint of color is what is needed to achieve a good blushing look, so the price tag shouldn’t be exorbitant. Having a palette with at least 5 different shades can serve for any skin tone as long as you are good with mixing and matching.

Pencils: what’s most important is that they should give off color and remain sharpened. Even the cheapest of eye or lip pencils can give off a good hue. If you feel the colors aren’t popping enough, you can add a little bit of shadow (for eye pencils) or lipstick/gloss (for lip pencils) in the same shade to accentuate it. This is also true for eyebrow pencils.

Liquid eye liners: these are just like mascaras. They have a fairly short shelf life and when applied properly, no one can guess they are drugstore.

When a makeup look is complete, you would see that the above products are more of finishing products. They help bring together and complete the work started by the ‘splurgers’. On their own, they CANNOT wreck a look COMPLETELY compared to the ‘splurgers’.

And this is another way of making sure that there’s some change left in the bank. Save most on finishing products.

In the previous post, I outlined 5 products that every makeup artist or makeup lover is expected to splurge on. This time, I’ll be letting you know how you can save money even as you splurge.

Palettes: most professional makeup brands have palettes. In fact, top professional brands have palettes for each of the products we mentioned previously. They understand that one may not be able to purchase so much products individually, so they put together some items and sell it at a discounted rate compared to individual purchases. So instead of buying 5 separate Concealers, you can pick up a Concealer palette complete with a color wheel. They even make it compact so it doesn’t occupy so much space.

Mix and match: This is one of my favorite things to do, especially with foundations. I absolutely love the Mary Kay TimeWise liquid foundation but I don’t own every shade. Instead, I buy alternate shades and mix them for the shades I don’t have; this is to say if I want a Bronze 4, I can mix Bronzes 3 & 5 to get it. Mind you, this may not work for all brands, but where’s the harm in experimenting? I also mix lipwear to give me a completely different color. So, with a few good quality products, I can save money while I mix and match to get what I would have ordinarily paid for individually.

Join a pro discount group: I honestly don’t know how well this works in Nigeria, but as a professional makeup artist from a reputable academy, you can apply to makeup brands for a pro discount. This allows you to sample as many products as possible and eventually recommend them to your clients, which puts more money in the brands’ or manufacturers’ pockets. At the moment, I shop at a 40% discount on ALL products from Sigma Beauty, and this is just one amongst many brands. You are strictly forbidden from retailing their products and purchases can be restricted for regulatory purposes. However, you would have to meet up with their requirements to enjoy such discounts.

With these ‘save money’ tips, you find that you won’t have to spend so much money, but you’ll get pleasant results as if you did. Your makeup bag won’t be full with items you hardly use or expired products.

Every professional makeup artist or makeup lover would bear me witness when I say that makeup is pretty expensive. There are a lot of needs to be met on the job that one has to be prepared for at any given moment. Take for instance, foundation: because of differing skin types and tones, one may have to invest in multiple bottles, but same shade in order to meet with clients’ needs. I, for one, know that Mary Kay TimeWise liquid foundation comes in Dry/Normal and Oily/Combination, so if you have a client that uses a Bronze 3, then you must have that shade in both combinations in order to provide a flawless and long-lasting look tailored to the clients’ skin preference.

If one has to make such extensive investments, then how can one save some money or better still make most of what is available?

I’ll tell you how: Splurge on some products and pick up the rest from any drugstore brand you please. Yes, you heard me right: not all makeup products must be ‘branded’ for them to work just fine.

Spend money on those products that would directly affect the ‘flawlessness’ of your makeup look.

Products like;

Foundations: if something is wrong with your foundation, believe me your client would be mistaken for their village masquerade for as long as she wears that look. Do yourself a favor, when your vendor asks you to jump while selling you foundations, simply ask ‘how high?’ and do your best to attain that height. Pay for the product now or pay for the consequences later.

Powder: it’s important that any powder used to set your foundation is of great quality. This is in order to give the foundation the semblance of skin. If after applying powder, you can still tell where skin ends and where makeup begins, then there’s a problem.

Lipstick/gloss: have you ever seen people wearing feathered lipwear? Honestly, how does it look? Would you patronize the makeup artist in question? Good quality lipsticks cost some money, getting them is an investment.

Eye shadows: I remember owning some eye shadows well over a decade ago. I had purchased them for N350 which as far as I was concerned was a good buy. But for the life of me, I couldn’t get the colors to be as bright on my eyes as they were in the palette. This is because they are not professionally pigmented. Professionally pigmented shadows not only cost more than their talc-based counterparts, they also read better on skin: a little goes a long way.

Concealer: as far as I’m concerned, good-quality concealer is worth its weight in gold. With just a little squeeze, you can cover a wide area. No wonder they come in very little containers.

OK! 5 products to splurge on!

Do you think I missed a product?

Would you like to know how you can further save money while buying these 5 products?